You like living in your present community because you feel safe and secure. You can take a walk at night without worrying about getting mugged or robbed while enjoying your evening stroll. At night, you and you and your family are able to sleep peacefully without worrying about thieves breaking into your house to steal your precious belongings. Such peaceful and safe surroundings are made possible by the neighborhood watch.
Benefits of Having a Neighborhood Watch in a Community
There is a lot of good that a neighborhood watch brings to a community. Here are some of them:
- There is less dependence on local law enforcement. A community like yours might not be 100 percent protected by the local law enforcement in your area. This may be because there is not enough manpower to cover the area where local law enforcement is situated. To keep criminal elements at bay, your neighborhood watch helps patrol the community at night and only asks for help from the local enforcement when needed.
- Criminal activities are kept to a minimum. Because members of the community patrol the streets especially at night, criminals think twice before carrying out their illegal activities. By patrolling the streets at night, the members of the neighborhood watch are able to detect suspicious movements in the community and report these to local authorities before things get worse. If anyone causes trouble in the community, the neighborhood watch will know it.
- Law enforcement gets help in investigating criminal activities in your area. Having a neighborhood helps monitor the movement of people in the community you are living in. People in your community know who is leaving the community and who is the new member of the community. Because the people in the community know each other, it becomes easy for the police to track any criminal who might be living or staying in your area.
Why You Should be Part of the Neighborhood Watch
These are good reasons why you, too should become part of your community’s neighborhood watch according to south Australia police safer communities. Here are some benefits that you can get out of being part of such an organization.
- You become closer to the members of the community. Being a new member of the community, you would want to develop a strong bond between you and the community members. What better way to be closer to the members of the community than joining the neighborhood watch. Joining such an organization shows that you are concerned with the well-being of the members of the community. As a result, the community considers you as an important member of their family.
- You get to participate in law enforcement activities. You might have wanted to become a member of the police force. For some reason, you were not able to fulfill that dream of yours. You can still help in preserving law and order by joining your community’s neighborhood watch. By walking around and keeping alert for any suspicious movements in your area, you help prevent criminal activities from happening and help preserve the peace and order in your community.
- You keep your family safe at all times. By being part of the neighborhood watch, you do not only protect the members of the community but your family as well. Because you know the members of the community, it becomes easy for you to identify who might be a potential troublemaker in the community.
Things to Remember Before Joining a Neighborhood Watch
But before you join the neighborhood, there are a few things to consider. Here are some of them according to wiggly wisdom.
- Your physical condition. Being part of the neighborhood requires you to do a lot of walking around at night. You might also have to change your sleeping hours. Because of these, your body should be perfectly healthy. But if your physical condition prevents you from joining the night patrol, you can still help by keeping your eyes open for any suspicious activities at night. If you happen to be a residential lawyer, you can still help preserve law and order in your community.
- You should be aware of state laws in your area. As a member of the neighborhood watch, you should have some knowledge of the state laws in your area. This is to avoid pouncing on anyone just because he or she looks suspicious.
A neighborhood watch is a big thing for a community. By being part of it, you help in maintaining law and order in the community in spite of the lack of regular police patrols in the area.
